Five things for pharma marketers to know: Wednesday, March 22, 2017

1. Novartis said serelaxin, its experimental drug for acute heart failure, did not improve the condition or reduce cardiovascular deaths in a late-stage clinical trial. The FDA requested the drugmaker to provide more information about the drug's effectiveness in 2014. (Bloomberg)

2. Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals filed a lawsuit to establish that its eczema treatment Dupixent did not infringe upon Amgen's patent for an unsuccessful asthma drug. Earlier this year, Amgen successfully sought an injunction preventing Sanofi and Regeneron from marketing Praluent, based on the infringement of Amgen's patent for Repatha. (Reuters)

3. The FDA approved Newron Pharmaceuticals' Xadago as an add-on drug to levodopa in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Results of two clinical trials showed that patients experienced more "on" time when taking Xadago along with levodopa.

4. Only 38% of patient groups viewed the pharmaceutical industry positively last year, down from nearly 45% in 2015, a survey of 1,400 patient groups across 105 countries found. (Stat)

5. Novartis said 20% of clinical-trial patients who were administered psoriasis drug Cosentyx a single time achieved clear skin for up to one year, compared with patients under continuous treatment. Cosentyx is the only FDA-approved IL-17A inhibitor to treat psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. (PharmaTimes)